Russian media and media in the self-proclaimed republics of Donetsk and Luhansk are disseminating fake news about war crimes committed by Ukrainian soldiers, nationalists in particular, against civilians in eastern and southern Ukraine. In reality, Russia is the one bombarding Ukraine’s cities and destroying lots of civilian targets, including blocks of flats and schools.
The city of Mariupol in Donbass is turning into a concentration camp, blocked by Ukrainian soldiers and paramilitary groups, the Russian press reads, quoting representatives of the separatist militias of Donetsk and Luhansk. In reality, the humanitarian corridors are blocked by Russian soldiers who are firing at critical infrastructure.
The Pro-Kremlin media in Russia and in the self-proclaimed republics in eastern Ukraine have launched a series of false narratives about the destruction of civilian infrastructure in Donbass, which was allegedly staged by Kiev to “justify” its attacks on Russian-speakers.
Amid rising Russian-Ukrainian tensions and accusations against Moscow for surrounding Ukraine militarily, the Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Ukrainian officials were bound by the Minsk peace deal to negotiate with the separatists in Donbass, and Kiev's counterarguments were termed as propaganda in the style of Joseph Goebbels, Minister of Public Propaganda during the Nazi regime.
British special troops have been deployed to Ukraine to organize diversions and escalate the situation in Donbass, according to the pro-Kremlin media, which resumed a string of narratives about a Western attack on the Russian-speakers in the Donetsk and Lugansk regions.
“Russia is the last country in the world that would want a war with Ukraine”, the Kremlin-affiliated media writes, accusing Kiev of seeking to trigger a conflict. This false narrative is at odds with the situation on the ground, where Russia (a country that already attacked Ukraine in 2014) has amassed a sizable force.
The military equipment Ukraine got from the United Kingdom is obsolete and/or out of commission, according to a piece of fake news carried by the Russian media. The United Kingdom is one of the NATO countries that, in the context of an impending Russian invasion, has provided Ukraine with deadly equipment in order to defend itself.
Ukraine is planning on massacring the civilian population in Donbas, according to the separatist and Russian state media. This false narrative comes in response to Ukraine’s decision to mobilize its territorial defense forces in the face of a high risk of Russia invading the region.
According to the Russian media, Ukraine has turned into a Nazi state with the direct support of the West and is a danger to Russia's security. The narrative is constructed with the help of false arguments about the rising level of crime following the Donbass war.
Odessa, a port-city in southern Ukraine, has been turned into a NATO military base, according to a new narrative published by the Russian media, which also condemns NATO military exercises in the Black Sea and labels Odessa and southern Ukraine Russian territories under foreign occupation.
The fake narratives about Ukraine targeted pro-European reforms and Kiev’s plans to join the EU and NATO, the situation of the Russian-speaking population in Eastern Ukraine, the country’s economic problems, etc.
The UK allegedly called on NATO to admit it stands accountable for the crisis in Ukraine and to recognize the West’s destabilizing actions, the Russian state media writes. This false narrative echoes an obscure British publication with no connection to government sources.
Kiev is accused of persecuting the people of Donbass and Crimea because it wants to legalize dual citizenship without including among the beneficiaries of the law the Ukrainians from the occupied regions, who were forced to take Russian citizenship.
The EU caused the migration crisis for refusing to build refugee camps and for terminating its readmission agreement with Belarus. This false narrative is promoted by the Belarusian president, Alexander Lukashenko.
NATO and the USA might be planning a conflict in Donbass, according to a piece of disinformation carried by Kremlin-linked media. In fact, Russia is the one who again rallied troops on the Ukrainian border.
The pro-Kremlin media presents the steps taken to strengthen ties with the separatist republics that Russia supports in Donbass as a measure to stop a so-called “genocide” committed by Ukraine and the West in the region.
While Ukraine exports food to the EU, its children are starving, and the country is turning onto a Western colony. These narratives have been reiterated by the Russian state media, which distorts a series of statistics presented by international organizations.
Belarus is only complying with international norms in managing the refugee crisis on its borders with the EU, according to the Russian Foreign Minister, Sergei Lavrov. In an interview with the state television station Russia 24, Lavrov has also resumed false narratives about Ukraine, which is allegedly violating the Minsk Agreements and is becoming increasingly neo-Nazi and Russophobic.
After Ukrainian forces in Donbass for the first time used a Turkish-made drone in response to the attacks of pro-Russian separatists, the Russian state media reiterated a series of narratives regarding Ukraine’s violations of the Minsk Protocol and its “genocide” targeting Russian speakers.
NATO wants to turn Ukraine and Georgia into territories for military action, but the Alliance is unwilling to provide any of them with security guarantees. The narrative was promoted by the Russian state media in the context of the visit to Kiev of the United States Secretary of Defense, Lloyd Austin.
As the natural gas crisis is deepening and prices are rising in the EU member states, the Russian state press is promoting narratives about Europeans panicking and seeking Russia's help.
The UN has criticized Kiev for serious human rights violations, noting, according to the Russian media, that Ukraine “kills its population”, “tortures” and “restricts freedom of speech”. In reality, the Russian press has tried to manipulate the public opinion by selectively using information from the report of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights.
In the context of signing an agreement on gas deliveries from Russia to Hungary, bypassing the Ukrainian gas pipeline system, the Russian government-controlled media outlets have begun to promote “apocalyptic” messages about the future of the Ukrainian state. According to such disinformation messages, Ukraine might collapse because of Kiev's “phony” Western partners.
In the context of the “Rapid Trident 2021” military exercise taking place in Ukraine, with the participation of NATO member states, the Russian state media has reiterated some of its false narratives about Kiev’s Russophobic policies, about Ukraine being a colony of the West and about the war in Donbass, which allegedly favors NATO member states.
82 years after the USSR invaded Poland, which was already being attacked by Nazi Germany, the MFA and state press in Moscow call the 1939 aggression an “act of liberation” and accuse the West of spreading propagandistic theories against Moscow.
In the context of the Taliban taking power in Afghanistan after the withdrawal of the US troops, the Russian media continues to promote a series of narratives about the refugee danger to Europe, blaming NATO for directing the migrant flow to Moldova and Ukraine.
The seven-year anniversary of the signing of the Minsk protocol saw the revival of fake narratives that Ukraine doesn’t want peace in Donbass and that its policies, which are backed by the West, are motivated by Russophobia.
The Taliban are showing increased concern with the security of flights transiting Afghan airspace than the Ukrainians were back in 2014, when the MH17 flight was shot down. The narrative was launched by the Russian MFA spokesperson, Maria Zakharova, who interpreted an article carried by the Dutch media.
Ukraine is a failed and artificial state, with a fragmented population, that has recorded no progress in its 30 years of independence, according to a number of false narratives carried by the Russian media. The narratives had been used in the past as well, and are now rehashed on the occasion of Ukraine celebrating its independence anniversary.
Students from Crimea and Donbass risk being persecuted in Ukraine, according to a disinformation campaign launched by the pro-Kremlin press.
Seven years after the downing, over Donbass, of the Boeing-777 plane that was performing the MH-17 flight, the Russia media resumes a series of narratives meant to exonerate the rebels who launched the Russian rocket. The main thesis is that Ukraine is responsible for the tragedy, but the West has sought to hide its guilt.
Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelensky, wants to go to war with Russia, while Ukrainian society wants peace, the Russian state media writes, rehashing a number of false narratives about the conflict in Donbass. The narratives are based on certain user comments critical of the Ukrainian president on the social media accounts of the pro-Kremlin publication “Sharij.net”. Volodymyr Zelensky’s discourse on the need to create a powerful weapon in Europe was presented as a declaration of war.
